The Art of Journaling

Lynne Perrella's Artists' Journals & Sketchbooks was an online impulse buy I made mainly because it's published by Quarry Books. I'm building a nice little collection of Quarry's art titles, and not one of them have yet to disappoint me.

The book arrived today, and after looking through it I was quite impressed. Being a writer and an artist often means I have to choose between the two; Ms. Perrella's book speaks to both sides of my creativity by adressing not only design but content.

The book contains works by over forty different artists as visual and inspirational examples, covering a wide variety of styles, materials and approaches. Every time I turned a page I was surprised by how beautifully visual the ideas were, without having that over-done, overly-complicated look to them. Most of the examples included found objects and recycled items such as cigar boxes, antique photo slides and aspirin tins. One artist even made a journal skirt that could be worn as clothing.

Some years back, when I first began making my own journals, I was very intimidated by the concept. I did take a class in book-making and binding, but I still struggled with certain aspects of it, especially art and design. I wish I'd had this book to start out with, because it doesn't have all those endless rules and weird material lists and complicated techniques. There really aren't any rules in this book. And while there are plenty of ideas for the advanced journal and sketchbook artists, I think Lynne Perrella has something here for anyone who wants to try art journaling. If you've ever been afraid it's too difficult, or you don't believe you have the artistic talent to pull it off, I think you're going to find something in this book that speaks to you and convinces you to give a real try.

As always, you don't have to take my word for it. In comments to this post, name any object you think could be made into an interesting journal or sketchbook by midnight EST on Thurday, June 7, 2012. I'll choose one name at random from everyone who participates, and send the winner an unsigned copy of Artists' Journals & Sketchbooks by Lynne Perrella along with a surprise. This giveaway is open to everyone on the planet, even if you've won something here at PBW in the past.